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UGFH1000

Dr Julie Chiu
Citation Style
When writing an academic essay, whether it is an entry in your reflective journal or the
final term paper, you may want to clarify or support your argument with quotations from the
original text. You can do so by using direct or indirect quotations. To make a direct quotation,
you use a phrase or sentence exactly as it appears in the original text, enclosing it in quotation
marks. If the direct quotation runs for more than three lines, you may set it off as an indented
paragraph. To make an indirect quotation, you present the phrase(s) or sentence(s) in your
own words in the form of a paraphrase or a summary. Whether you are making a direct or
indirect quotation, you must indicate clearly that you are borrowing someone elses idea, not
offering your own. You must also state your source clearly by doing two things. First,
immediately following the quotation, you should insert a parenthetical note giving (1) the
name of the author of the book from which you are quoting (or the name of the book if the
author is unknown) and (2) the page number of the book in which you find the original text.
For example,
The Social Contract opens with an intriguing statement: Man is
born free; and everywhere he is in chains (Rousseau 384). What
kind of chains does the author mean? What chains do we face
today and how do we break free from them? This is what we aim to
examine in this essay.
Second, at the end of the essay, you should include a list of Work(s) Cited and provide full
information of the publication from which you find the quotation. You should list the authors
name, the book title, (the translators name), the city of publication, the name of publisher,
and the year of publication, as below:
Work Cited
Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The Social Contract. Tr. G.D.H. Cole. Miami:
BN Publishing, 2007.
If it is through the textbook that you find access to The Social Contract, your Work Cited
should read like this (remember to say which edition of the textbook you are using, as the
pagination differs between the two editions):
Work Cited
Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The Social Contract. Tr. G.D.H. Cole. Miami:
BN Publishing, 2007. In In Dialogue with Humanity: Textbook for
General Education Foundation Programme. 2nd ed. Hong Kong:
Office of University General Education, The Chinese University of
Hong Kong, 2012. 383-421.
If there are two or more items in your listing, present them in alphabetical order of the
authors surnames, as follows:
Works Cited
Cook, Michael. The Koran: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford UP, 2000.
Huang Zongxi. Waiting for the Dawn: A Plan for the Prince. Tr. Theodore
de Bary. New York: Columbia UP, 1993.
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. The Social Contract. Tr. G.D.H. Cole. Miami: BN

UGFH1000
Dr Julie Chiu
Publishing, 2007. In In Dialogue with Humanity: Textbook for
General Education Foundation Programme. 2nd ed. Hong Kong: Office
of University General Education, The Chinese University of Hong
Kong, 2012. 383-421.
Several classics of our syllabus, however, have established conventions for academic
citations and require you to give the relevant book number, chapter number, or line number. It
is advisable that you master the citation style unique to each of these classics, and the list of
sample citations below will help. Below, two examples are provided for each of the twelve
classics in the syllabus to show you how to document indirect and direct quotations properly.
1. The Odyssey
State the book number and line number(s) when making a quotation from The Odyssey. For
instance, in e.g.(1) below, 23:184-186 means Book 23, Lines 184-186. In e.g.(2), the original
line begins with a personal pronoun she. To help your reader see that it is Calypso that is
referred to in the quoted line, you may insert Calypsos name by using a pair of square
brackets.
E.g.(1) Penelope tests her husband by telling her maid to bring the
marital bed out from the bedroom (23:184-186)
E.g.(2) Odysseus makes his first appearance as a worn-out man:
She [Calypso] found him sitting where the breakers rolled in. His
eyes were perpetually wet with tears now, His life draining away
in homesickness (5:150-152).
2. Symposium
State the line number when making a quotation from the Symposium, following the
Stephanus Numbers (e.g., 215b-c, 223d, as appear below). Such references are given in the
margins of most published books of Platonic dialogues.
E.g.(1) Alcibiades praises Socrates with similes, comparing him to
such mythical figures as Silenus and Marsyas (215b-c).
E.g.(2) The Symposium ends with Socrates leaving the party in
sobriety: He went to the Lyceum, had a bath, spent the rest of the
day as he normally would, and then, towards evening, went home
to bed (223d).
3. The Nicomachean Ethics
State the line number when making a quotation from The Nicomachean Ethics, following the
Bekker Numbers (e.g., 1157b8-14). You will find such references in the margins of most
published books of Aristotles works).
E.g.(1) Aristotle mentions that friendship will fade out after long
separation (VIII 5, 1157b8-14). [i.e., Book 8, Chapter 5, Lines 8-14 of
1157b].
E.g.(2) Aristotle emphasizes the importance of living together:
those who approve of each other but do not spend all their time
together seem to be well disposed rather than friendly, because
nothing is so characteristic of friends as spending time together

UGFH1000
Dr Julie Chiu
(VIII 5, 1157b20 f.). [VIII 5, 1157b20 f. means Book 8, Chapter 5, Line 20
forward of 1157b20.]
4. The Analects

13.18
7.22
State the book and verse number when making a quotation from The Analects. All books and
verses in The Analects have a reference number though slight variation may be found in
different editions and translations. For example, there are slight differences in the designation
of book and verse numbers between Yang Bojuns edition (used in our textbook) and Burton
Watsons translation (used in our English course pack). In example (1), below, the reference
number of the quotation is 13:18, which means Book 13, Verse 18 of The Analects.
1(13.18)
E.g.(1) Confucius thinks that covering up the crimes of ones father
was an act of honesty (13:18).
2

(7.22)
E.g. (2) Confucius suggests that we should learn from our friends
strengths and take their weaknesses as motivations for selfexamination: The Master said, When I walk with two others, I'm
bound to find my teacher there. I single out their good points and
pursue them, note their bad points and make my corrections.
(7:21)
5. Chuang Tzu

State the chapter title, book title, and page number in the English course pack (taken from
Victor Mairs translation in Wandering on the Way: Early Taoist Tales and Parables of
Chuang Tzu) when making a quotation from Chuang Tzu (or Zhuangzi).
1
213
E.g. (1) Chuang Tzu explains the use of uselessness with the
example of the Stinky Quassia, which, he observes, escapes the
misery of being chopped down because its truck is gnarled and
knotted and cannot be measured by an inked line (Carefree
Wandering, Chuang Tzu, 4).
2
228
E.g. (2) Chuang Tzu thinks that instead of blowing moisture on
each other and keeping each other wet with their slime, two fish
may be happier forgetting themselves in the rivers and lakes (The

UGFH1000
Dr Julie Chiu
Great Ancestral Teacher, Chuang Tzu, 17).
6. The Heart of Understanding

State the page number of the quotation in the English course pack.
1

( 243-244)
E.g. (1) Thich Naht Hanh uses many analogies to explain the idea
of inter-being. For example, he says that in a piece of paper we
can see the clouds, the rain, the trees, and even the sunshine, the
logger, the wheat, the loggers parents and our own mind (2).
2( 245)
E.g. (2) Thich Naht Hanh says that [i]n Buddhism knowledge is
regarded as an obstacle for understanding (3).
7. The Bible

State the chapter and verse number when making a quotation from The Bible.
13:16
[]
E.g. (1) The Bible interprets the maternal pain of female as Gods
punishment (Genesis 3.16) [i.e. Genesis, Chapter 3, Verse 16].
2
3:35[]

E.g. (2) Jesus says, Whoever does the will of God is my brother
and sister and mother (Mark 3.35) [i.e. Gospel according to Mark,
Chapter 3, Verse 35] reflecting that regards family values differently
from the ordinary people.
8. Quran
State the chapter/sura number and line number when making a quotation from the Quran.
E.g.(1) O People! Worship your Lord who created you as well as
those who came before you. Perhaps you will fear Him. (2:21)[i.e.,
Sura 2, Line 21] In this verse, people refers to the people of Israel.
E.g.(2) The Quran provides detailed guidelines for divorce (2:226232, 236-237, 241-242) [Sura 2, Lines 226-232, 236-237 and 241-242].
9. Waiting for the Dawn: A Plan for the Prince

State the chapter title when making a quotation from Waiting for the Dawn: A Plan for the
Prince.
1

UGFH1000
Dr Julie Chiu

E.g. (1) Huang Tsung-hsi hopes that a good ruler will adopt his
proposal of governance, just as Chi Tzu being visited (Preface of
Huang Tsung-hsi).
2

E.g. (2) Huang Tsung-hsi uses hauling great logs as a simile of


governance by the prince and his ministers:
For governing the world is like the hauling of great logs.
The men in front call out Heave!, those behind, Ho! The
prince and his ministers should be log-haulers working
together. If some, instead of holding tightly to the ropes
with feet firmly set on the ground, amuse themselves by
cavorting around in front, the others behind will think it the
thing to do and the business of hauling logs will be
neglected. (On Ministership)
He points out that if the ministers only concern themselves with
pleasing and entertaining the ruler, the duty of governing the
world will be neglected.
10. The Social Contract
State the book number, chapter number, and page number when making a quotation.
E.g.(1) According to Rousseau, family is the first model of political
societies (Book I, Chapter II, p.385).
E.g.(2) Rousseau begins The Social Contract by claiming that
[m]an is born free; and everywhere he is in chains (Book I,
Chapter I, p.384). What kind of chains does he have in mind?
This is what we aim to explore in this essay.
11. The Wealth of Nations
State the book number, chapter number, and page number when making a quotation.
E.g.(1) Adam Smith uses the production of pins as an example to
illustrate the benefits of division of labour (Book I, Chapter I,
p.426).
E.g.(2) Adam Smith expresses his view on human nature in The
Wealth of Nations. He thinks that all human beings have the
propensity to truck, barter, and exchange one thing for another
(Book I, Chapter II, p.431).
12. Wages of Labour and Alienated Labour
State the chapter title and page number of the quotation in the textbook. The essay title can be
embedded in your sentence or in the parenthetical note.

UGFH1000
Dr Julie Chiu
E.g.(1) Unlike Adam Smith, Karl Marx draws attention to the
negative impact of division of labour, arguing that it leads
workers to compete with each other and with the machines
(Wages of Labour, p.463).
E.g.(2) In the essay Alienated Labour, Marx examines the
relation between mans species-being and nature by first
defining the genuine human functions (p.468).

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